A Tale of Destiny Family and Stars

Callum is an orphan and a thief in a city where magical ability is punishable by death. He dreams of leaving Aljana to become a wizard, like those he has spent his life reading about in forbidden books. He has even practiced a few rudimentary spells, thanks to a magical focus he was given as a baby. Callum’s life changes upon the arrival of a wizard called Willow, who has come on the invitation of the Shah himself. With a single misstep these two will find themselves bound together in a destiny that traces itself back one hundred thousand years, to the bedchamber of a dying King and his Starlight Queen.

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Jun 23, 2019: Hello! For anyone who was looking to read Acolyte but couldn’t because the site was down, I have now restored it! I seemingly lost many of my files in an SSD malfunction but have since recovered them and can continue promptly. Two the two who have reviewed what little I have to offer, I am eternally grateful for your feedback and I hope you find this and are able to continue with me.

May 4, 2019: [EDIT: Acolyte’s website has now been down for several days; I suspect the story has been discontinued—a shame!]

Acolyte is, at present, quite short—a prologue and two chapters—and hasn’t been updated in the better part of a month. Hopefully it will be resumed at some point; for the moment, we have a clear setup and characters, but only the first stirrings of a plot. What there is of it is competently done.

May 1, 2019: FYI I’m a short review person, and I prefer to talk about craft instead of spoilers.

I recommend this one. It’s a solid science fantasy with a fresh take on common fantasy tropes. I knocked off half a star because the prose creates more distance between the reader and the experience than I like, but the narrator is good, the world building is 100%, it’s wholly readable, and I had an emotional reaction to the end of the prologue (which should [more . . .]